Water Company nets open space grant

NORTH BRANFORD -- A nonprofit water service corporation and a nonprofit conservation agency received a total of $199,500 in state funding Tuesday to protect land in Durham and East Haddam.

JOHN CHRISTIE

Published
12:00 am EDT, Thursday, September 6, 2001

The state Department of Environmental Protection awarded $6 million to 20 recipients in 16 towns in the latest round of the state's open space program.

The program was instituted by Gov. John G. Rowland and the General Assembly in 1999, with the goal of preserving 21 percent of the state's open space by 2023.

The sixth round increased open space in Connecticut by over 1,120 acres. During the first five rounds, the DEP awarded approximately $28.8 million for 132 open space projects totaling 8,648 acres.

During a ceremony at North Branford Town Hall, DEP officials and Lt. Gov. Jodi Rell awarded the South Central Connecticut Regional Water Authority $72,000 to preserve 39.8 acres in southeastern Durham.

The authority has purchased the property running along the Killingworth town boundary from Durham resident Peter Shuler to protect the Hammonassett watershed.

The authority provides water to 400,000 residents within the New Haven area, and uses Hammonassett Reservoir in Killingworth as a principle water source. Including the Shuler property, the authority has purchased 97 acres of watershed property within Durham.

The Shuler property will be used as a wildlife sanctuary.

Authority land-use manager Dianne Thompkins said purchasing the property will not only protect the authority's water source, but limit development in the town's most wild areas.

"The bottom-line is that we are always interested in protecting land that isn't protected," Thompkins said.

Durham First Selectman Raymond Kalinowski said he was somewhat surprised by the grant as most had hoped the award would go for the Pisgah Valley purchase.

In April, the town purchased the 103-acre valley south of Pisgah Mountain from Dion Arrigoni for $997,000.

The town applied for a grant for the valley in November and was supposed to get it during the firth round of awards in May. The grant, though, was postponed.

"I was surprised, but this isn't a case of sour grapes," Kalinowski said. "Anytime Durham's land is protected is still good news to us."

DEP Deputy Commissioner David Leff said the department is still working with the town to resolve land appraisal questions for the valley, because it did not take into account wetlands and slopes that would make the land less valuable to developers.

"Appraisals can be quite complex and difficult to deal with," Leff said. "Hopefully it will be resolved soon."

The Connecticut chapter of the Nature Conservancy received $127,500 for the purchase of 86-acres northeast of the Devil's Hopyard State Park in East Haddam.

The property is located within the Eightmile River watershed and contains wetlands and watercourse that feed the watershed, the Urbanik Pond, and is part of 3,800 acres of continuous forest.

"We're thrilled," East Haddam First Selectman Susan Merrow said. "Preserving the Eightmile River watershed is major priority for the town and the conservancy."

Property owner Philip Shuler approached the town about preserving the land last year, Merrow said, "and the conservancy took the lead because they had the staff for it."

Currently, the conservancy is negotiating with Shuler for the final purchase of the property.